Government of Andhra PradeshCommercial Taxes Department

Office of the Chief Commissioner of State Tax

Eedupugallu,Vijayawada .

CIRCULAR No.5

CCT’s Ref .No. CCW/GST/74/2015 Dated : 13.12.2017

Sub – Manual filing and processing of refund claims in respect of zero-rated supplies - reg.

Due to the non-availability of the refund module on the common portal, it has been decided by the competent authority, on the recommendations of the Council, that the applications/documents/forms pertaining to refund claims on account of zero-rated supplies shall be filed and processed manually till further orders. Therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 168 of the Andhra Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 ( APGST Act in short) and for the purpose of ensuring uniformity, the following conditions and procedure are laid down for the manual filing and processing of the refund claims:

2.1 As per sub-section (3) of section 16 of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the IGST Act’) read with clause (i) of sub-section (3) and sub-section (6) of section 54 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act,2017 (CGST Act in short) / APGST Act and rules 89 to 96A of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules (CGST Rules in short) / Andhra Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 ( APGST Rules in short), a registered person may make zero-rated supplies of goods or services or both on payment of integrated tax and claim refund of the tax so paid, or make zero-rated supplies of goods or services or both under bond or Letter of Undertaking without payment of integrated tax and claim refund of unutilized input tax credit in relation to such zero rated supplies.2.2 The refund of integrated tax paid on goods exported out of India is governed by rule 96 of the APGST /CGST rules . The shipping bill filed by an exporter shall be deemed to be an application for refund in such cases. The application shall be deemed to have been filed only when export manifest or export report is filed and the applicant has furnished a valid return in FORM GSTR-3 or FORM GSTR-3B, as the case may be.

Upon receipt of the information regarding furnishing of a valid return in FORM GSTR-3 or FORM GSTR-3B, as the case may be, from the common portal, the system designated by the Customs shall process the claim for refund and an amount equal to the integrated tax paid in respect of such export shall be electronically credited to the bank account of the applicant. Any order regarding withholding of such refund or its further sanction respectively in PART-B of FORM GST RFD-07 or FORM GST RFD-06 shall be done manually till the refund module is operational on the common portal.

2.3 The application for refund of integrated tax paid on zero-rated supply of goods to a Special Economic Zone developer or a Special Economic Zone unit or in case of zero-rated supply of services (that is, except the cases covered in paragraph 2.2 above and para 2.4 below) is required to be filed in FORM GST RFD-01A (as notified in the CGST Rules vide notification No 55/2017-Central Tax dated 15.11.2017 and APGST Rules vide notification G.O. Ms. No. 581 Revenue (CT-II) DEPARTEMNT Dt 8.12.2017) by the supplier on the common portal and a print out of the said form shall be submitted before the jurisdictional proper officer along with all necessary documentary evidences as applicable (as per the details in statement 2 or 4 of Annexure to FORM GST RFD – 01), within the time stipulated for filing of such refund under the CGST Act/APGST Act.

2.4 The application for refund of unutilized input tax credit on inputs or input services used in making such zero-rated supplies shall be filed in FORM GST RFD-01A on the common portal and the amount claimed as refund shall get debited in accordance with sub-rule (3) of rule 86 of the CGST/ APGST Rules, from the amount in the electronic credit ledger to the extent of the claim. The common portal shall generate a proof of debit (ARN- Acknowledgement Receipt Number) which would be mentioned in the FORM GST RFD-01A submitted manually, along with the print out of FORM GST RFD-01A to the jurisdictional proper officer, and with all necessary documentary evidences as applicable (as per details in statement 3 or 5 of Annexure to FORM GST RFD-01), within the time stipulated for filing of such refund under the CGST/ APGST Act.

2.5 The registered person needs to file the refund claim with the jurisdictional tax authority to which the taxpayer has been assigned as per the administrative order issued in this regard by the Chief Commissioner of Central Tax and the Commissionerof State Tax. The taxpayers who are migrated , were assigned between the State and Central tax authorities vide Order no. 1 /2017 /APGST /DIV.COM. dt 24.11.2017. In case if any registered person is not allotted to State or Central authority, such registered person is at liberty to apply for refund before the Central Tax Authority or State Tax Authority till the administrative mechanism for assigning of taxpayers to

respective authority is implemented. However, in the latter case, an undertaking is required to be submitted stating that the claim for sanction of refund has been made to only one of the authorities. It is reiterated that the State Tax officers shall facilitate the processing of the refund claims of all registered persons whether or not such person was registered with the State Government in the earlier regime.

2.6 Once such a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01A is received in the office of the jurisdictional proper officer, an entry shall be made in a refund register to be maintained for this purpose with the following details –

Table 1Sl. Applicant’ GSTI Date of Period Nature of Amoun Date of issue of Date ofNo s name N receipt of to refund – t of acknowledgme receipt of. applicatio which Refund of refund nt in FORM complete

n the integrated claime GST RFD-02 applicatioclaim tax d n (aspertain paid/Refun mentioneds d of in FORM

unutilized GSTITC RFD-02)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2.7 Further, all communication in regard to the FORMS mentioned below shall be done manually, within the timelines as specified in the relevant rules, till the module is operational on the common portal, and all such communications shall also be recorded appropriately in the refund register as discussed in the succeeding paragraphs –

Relevant Provision of the CGST/ APGST Rules

Sl.No. FORM Details

1. FORM GST RFD-02 Acknowledgement Rules 90(1)and 90(2)

2. FORM GST RFD-03 Deficiency memo Rule 90(3)

3. FORM GST RFD-04 Provisional refund order Rule 91(2)

4. FORM GST RFD-05 Payment advice Rules 91(3),92(4), 92(5) and 94

5. FORM GST RFD-06Refund Sanction/ Rejection Order

Rules 92(1),92(3), 92(4), 92(5) and 96(7)

6. FORM GST RFD-07

Order for complete adjustment/ withholding of sanctioned refund

Rules 92(1), 92(2) and 92(6)

7. FORM GST RFD-08 Notice for rejectionof Rule 92(3)

application for refund

8. FORM GST RFD-09Reply to show cause notice Rule 92(3)

2.8 The processing of the claim till the provisional sanction of refund shall be recorded in the refund register as in the table indicated below -

Table 2Date of Date of Date of issue of Amount Amountof provisional Date of issue ofissue of receipt provisional refund of refund sanctioned Payment AdviceDeficiency of reply order in FORM refund in FORM GSTMemo in from the GST-RFD-04 claimed RFD-05FORM applicantGSTRFD-03

CT ST/ IT Cess

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2.9 After the sanction of provisional refund, the claim shall be processed and the final order issued within sixty days of the date of receipt of the complete application form. The process shall be recorded in the refund register as in the table indicated below -

Table 3Date of Date Date of issue Totalamount of Date of Amount ofrefund Date ofissue of of Refund refund sanctioned issue rejected issue ofof recei sanction/rejec of ordernotice, pt of tion order in Payme forif any reply, FORM GST nt adjustmfor if any RFD-06 Advice ent ofrejecti to in sanctionon of SCN FORM edrefund in GST refund/in FOR RFD- withholFORM M 05 ding

GST GST refundRFD- RFD- in08 09 FORM

GSTRFD-07

C ST/ I Ces C ST/ IT CesT T s T s

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

2.10 After the refund claim is processed in accordance with the provisions of the APGST Act and the rules made thereunder and where any amount claimed as refund is rejected under rule 92 of the CGST/AP GST Rules, either fully or partly, the amount debited, to the extent of rejection, shall be re-credited to the electronic credit ledger by an order made in FORM GST PMT-03. The amount would be credited by the proper officer using FORM GST RFD-01B (as notified in the CGST Rules vide notification no 55/2017-central tax dated 15.11.2017 and APGST Rules vide notification G.O. Ms. No. 581 Revenue (CT-II) DEPARTEMNT Dt .12.2017)subject to the provisions of rule 93 of the CGST/ APGST Rules.

3. For the sake of clarity and uniformity, the entire process of filing and processing of refunds manually is tabulated as below:

3.1 Filing of Refund Claims:Sl. Category of Refund Process of FilingNo.1. Refund of IGST paid on export of goods No separate application is required

as shipping bill itself will betreated as application for refund.

2. Refund of IGST paid on export of services Printout of FORM GST RFD-/ zero rated supplies to SEZ units or SEZ 01A needs to be filed manuallydevelopers with the jurisdictional GST officer

(only at one place - Centre orState) along With relevantdocumentary evidences, whereverapplicable.

3. Refund of unutilized input tax credit due to FORM GST RFD-01A needs tothe accumulation of credit of tax paid on be filed on the common portal.inputs or input services used in making The amount of credit claimed aszero-rated supplies of goods or services or refund would be debited in theboth electronic credit ledger and proof

of debit needs to be generated onthe common portal. Printout of the Form GST RFD-01A needs to be submitted before the jurisdictional GST Officer along with necessary documentary evidences, wherever applicable.

3.2 Steps to be followed for processing of Refund Claims:Three different refund registers are to be maintained for record keeping of the manually sanctioned refunds – for receipts, sanction of provisional refunds and sanction of final refunds. The steps are as follows:

Step No. Action to be TakenStep-1 Entry to be made in the Refund register for receipt of refund applicationsStep-2 Check for completeness of application as well as availability of the

supporting documents in totality. Once completeness in all respects isascertained, acknowledgement in FORM GST RFD-02 shall be issuedwithin 15 days from the date of filing of the application and entry shall bemade in the Refund register for receipt of refund applications

Step-3 All communications (issuance of deficiency memo, issuance ofprovisional and final refund orders, payment advice etc.) shall bedone in the format prescribed in the Forms appended to the CGST/APGST Rules, and shall be done manually (i.e. not on the common portal)within the timelines prescribed in the rules;

Processing for grant of provisional refund shall be completed within 7 days as per the CGST/APGST Rules and details to be maintained in the register for provisional refunds. Bifurcation of the taxes to be refunded under CGST (CT) /SGST (ST) /IGST (IT) /Cess shall be maintained in the register mandatorily;

After the sanction of the provisional refund, final order is to be issued within sixty days (after due verification of the documentary evidences) of the date of receipt of the complete application form. The details of the finally sanctioned refund and rejected portion of the refund along with the breakup (CT / ST / IT/ Cess) to be maintained in the final refund register;

The amount not sanctioned and eligible for re-credit is to be re-credited to the electronic credit ledger by an order made in FORM GST PMT-03. The actual credit of this amount will be done by the proper officer in FORM GST RFD-01B.

3.3 Detailed procedure for manual processing of refund claims:

The detailed procedure for disposal of Refund claims filed manually is as under:MANUAL PROCESSING OF REFUND

STEPS REMARKS LEGALPROVISIONS

Filing of refund application The correspondingelectronic credit ledgerin FORM GST RFD- 01A of CT / ST / IT/online on the common portal Rule 89Cess would get debited(only when refund of and an ARN numberunutilized ITC is claimed)would get generated.

The printout of the ARNalong with application ofrefund shall be Rule 89(1) –submitted manually in Applicationthe appropriatejurisdiction. Rule 89(2) –

This form needs to beFiling of printout of

Requisiteaccompanied with the DocumentsFORMGST RFD-01A requisite documentaryevidences. This Form Rule 89(3) –shall contain the debit Debiting ofentry in the electronic electronic creditcredit ledger of the ledgeramount claimed asrefund in FORM GSTRFD-01A.

The proper officer shallRule 90(2) – 15 dayvalidate the GSTINtime for scrutinydetails on the portal to

validate whether return Rule 90(3) –in FORM GSTR-3 or Issuance ofFORM GSTR- 3B, as Deficiency memo

Initial scrutiny of thethe case may be, has

Rule 90(3) – Freshbeen filed. A declarationDocuments by the proper refund applicationis required to beofficer requirementsubmitted by the

claimant that no refund Rule 93(1) – re-has been claimed against credit of refundthe relevant invoices. amount applied for

Deficiencies, if any, indocumentary evidencesare to be ascertained andcommunicated in

FORM GST RFD-03within 15 days of filingof the refundapplication.

Deficiency Memoshould be complete inall respects and only oneDeficiency Memo shallbe given.

Submission ofapplication afterDeficiency Memo shallbe treated as a freshapplication.

Resubmission of theapplication,afterrectifying the deficiencies pointed out in the Deficiency memo, shall be made by using the ARN and debit entrynumber generated originally.

If the application is not filed afresh within thirtydays of the communication of the deficiency memo, the proper officer shall pass an order in FORM GST PMT-03 and re-credit the amount claimed as refund through FORMGST RFD-01B.

The date of submissionof application for whichacknowledgement hasbeen given will be

Issue acknowledgement considered as the date Rule 90(2) -manually within 15 days in for ensuring whether the AcknowledgementFORM GST RFD-02 refund application hasbeen sanctioned withinthe stipulated timeperiod.

The amount ofprovisional refund shallbe calculated taking intoaccount the total inputtax credit, withoutmaking any reductionfor credit being Rule 91(1) –provisionally accepted. Requirement of no

Provisional refund shall prosecution for lastbe granted separately for 5 yearseach head CT / ST

Grant of provisional refund / IT/ Cess within 7 days Rule 91(2) – Primaof acknowledgement in facie satisfaction,within seven days of issue of FORM GST RFD-04. seven dayacknowledgement

Before sanction of the requirementrefund a declarationshall be obtained that the Rule 91(3) –applicant has not Payment advice,contravened rule 91(1). electronic credit to

Payment advice to be bank accountissued in FORM GSTRFD-05.

Refund would be madedirectly in the bankaccount mentioned inthe registration.

The officer shall validaterefund statement detailswith details in FORMGSTR 1 (or Table 6A ofFORM GSTR-1) Rule 89(4) – Refundavailable on the Amount Calculationcommon portal.

The Shipping bill details Rule 92(1) – Any

Detailed scrutiny of the shall be checked by adjustments made inofficer through the amount againstrefund application along with ICEGATE SITE existing demandssubmitted documents (www.icegate.gov.in)

Rule 92(2) –wherein the officerwould be able to check reasons fordetails of EGM and withholding ofshipping bill by keying refundsin port name, Shippingbill number and date.

Further, details of IGSTpaid also needs to be

verified from FORMGSTR- 3 or FORMGSTR- 3B, as the casemay be, filed by theapplicant and it needs tobe verified that therefund amount claimedshall be less than the taxpaid on account of zerorated supplies as perFORM GSTR-3 orFORM GSTR- 3B, asthe case may be.

Ascertain what amountmay be sanctioned finally and see whether any adjustments against any outstanding liability is required (FORM GST RFD-07 – Part A).

Ascertain what amount of the input tax credit issanction-able, and amount of refund, if any, liable to be withheld.

Order needs to be passed in FORM GST RFD-07– Part B.

Notice has to be issuedto the applicant in Rule 92(3) – NoticeFORM GST RFD-08. for refund not

The applicant has to admissible / payablereply within 15 days ofreceipt of the notice in Rule 92(3) –

If the sanction-able amount is FORM GST RFD-09. Requirement ofless than the applied amount Principles of natural reply to the notice

justice to be followed within 15 daysbefore making the final

Rule 92(3), 92(4),decision. Final order to be made 92(5) – Sanction of

in FORM GST RFD- Refund order06.

Pre-audit of the

Pre-Audit manually processedrefund applications isnot required to be

carried out, irrespectiveof the amount involved,till separate detailedguidelines are issued. Post-audit of the ordersmay however continueon the basis of extantguidelines. The proper officer shallissue the refund ordermanually for each headi.e. CT / ST / IT/Cess.

Amount paidprovisionally needs to beadjusted accordingly. Payment advice is to bemade in FORM GSTRFD-05. The amount of credit

rejected has to be re-credited to the creditledger by an order in Rule 92(3), 92(4),FORM GST PMT- 03 92(5) – Sanction ofand shall be intimated to Refund orderthe common portal inFinal sanction of refundFORM GST RFD- Rule 92(4), 92(5) –01B. Payment advice

Refund, if any, will be issuepaid by an order withpayment advice inFORM GST RFD-05. The details of the refundalong with taxpayerbank account detailsshall be manuallysubmitted inPFMS/[States’] systemby the jurisdictionalDivision’s DDO and asigned copy of thesanction order shall besent to PAO office forrelease of payment.

Payment of interest if any Amount, if any, will be Rule 94paid by an order with

payment advice inFORM GST RFD-05.

4. The refund application for various taxes i.e. CT / ST / IT/ Cess can be filed with any one of the tax authorities and shall be processed by the said authority, however the payment of the sanctioned refund amount shall be made only by the respective tax authority of the Centre or State government. In other words, the payment of the sanctioned refund amount in relation to CT / IT / Cess shall be made by the Central tax authority while payment of the sanctioned refund amount in relation to ST would be made by the State tax authority. It therefore becomes necessary that the refund order issued either by the Central tax authority or the State tax authority is communicated to the concerned counter-part tax authority within three days for the purpose of payment of the relevant sanctioned refund amount of tax or cess, as the case may be.

Sd/- J.SYAMALA RAOChief Commissioner of State Taxes

//f.b.o//

Commissioner of State Tax